O'Dea Owl Families,  

PTA would like to invite all our parent volunteers to the annual Volunteer Appreciation Celebration April 15th @ Cafe Vino 4:00-6:00 (Drop in any time). 

Fun Run and PTA Funds Update – Blinds have been installed and look fabulous.  This is a small but mighty contribution to ensuring our learning environment is the highest quality.  Students and teachers are enjoying all the natural light!  Thanks for all of your support in making O’Dea amazing.   

Our last School Accountability Meeting of the year is Monday, 3/31, from 5:00-6:00. We will be reflecting on the year O'Dea Staffing Plan (see below) and discussing plans for the 2025-26 school year.  Join @  https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZDM5NzNiNGQtNDliOS00NjdlLWI4MjItZDExODNlOWE0Yzhj%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%220d6d846c-eadd-4b6c-b03e-f15cd4b7e9cf%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22810d4002-9c45-45e5-ad04-523566f27d52%22%7d 

We want to share with you that after much thoughtful collaboration, we have finalized the Staffing Plan for the 2025/26 school year. While we are committed to providing the best possible education for all our students, we are facing a challenging situation due to a nearly 10% reduction in school funding, resulting from a decline in enrollment (from 400 to 361 students for next year).  Our O'Dea Staff Leadership Team, Parent School Accountability Team, and the entire O'Dea Staff have worked together with great care and consideration to create a Staffing Plan that supports our students' learning needs, despite these budgetary constraints. We have developed a plan that balances the challenges with our ongoing commitment to delivering high-quality education. 

Here are the plans and adjustments you can expect for next year: 

• Kindergarten: 2 classrooms
• First Grade: 3 classrooms
• Second Grade: 3 classrooms
• Third Grade: 3 classrooms
• Fourth Grade: 4 classrooms
• Fifth Grade: 3 classrooms 

We will reduce our building intervention positions from three to one, with support from a teaching assistant (paraprofessional). Additionally, there will be adjustments to our specials schedule: 

• Art and PE will be reduced to 80%
• Tech and Music will be reduced to 90% 

Despite these reductions, students will continue to have similar daily access to these special programs.

Gifted and Talented services will remain unchanged, and the library schedule will be reduced to one and a half days per week. 

We understand that these changes may raise questions or concerns, but please know that we are committed to providing the best educational experience for all our students and have made these adjustments with that priority in mind. Thank you for your understanding and continued support as we navigate this process together. 

Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns,

Thanks, 

Dr. M.

Important Announcements and Updates 

We are approaching the time of year when we administer CMAS (Colorado Measures of Academic Success) for 3rd-5th grade students.  We begin testing on April 8 and conclude April 17th. Attendance is essential during these days to avoid make-ups – please do your best to ensure students are on time and ready to do their best on these critical assessments.  Click this link for a detailed calendar and more information.  

Triathlon update: Unfortunately, we will postpone this until next year. With such a significant event, we want to make sure we have enough time to do it the best we can. The work we started this year will support our return to the O’Dea Triathlon in 2025-26! 

Support O’Dea PTA by linking your King Soopers Card to O’Dea.  At NO COST to you – King Soopers donates a percentage of your transaction back to O’Dea.  https://www.kingsoopers.com/i/community/community-rewards